Monday, September 28, 2009

What does it take to save thousands of litres of rainwater? A meagre Rs400.

A Bangalorean has de-bunked politicians' theory that one needs to go to other states to study implementation of rainwater harvesting. M Rajamurthi, an LIC agent, has created a unique system at his house. And his guide was the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

After two to three trials, he was successful in making a model that saved him over 10,000 litres of rainwater this monsoon.

Rajamurthi and his family were using a borewell and Cauvery water for their needs before he was struck with the idea of creating a rainwater system for himself. "I was shocked that ministers were going abroad to learn this. It is not a complicated one. All I spent on the pipes and filters was Rs 400 and that has saved me so much of water," he said.

What Rajamurthi did was to pick up an anniversary book of BWSSB that had several models of rainwater systems. He read the guidelines in detail and tried implementing it. The first model did not work. On a second trial, he got it right.

"I used two kinds of filters -- a 150 micron screen tea filter and a bucket tea filter. The water slopes from the terrace into a pipe and comes down to the filter. The solid residue settles at the bottom of the filter and water gushes up into the bucket where it filters again. The filtered water then comes down through a pipe and is collected in the underground sump," explained Rajamurthi.

For drinking purposes, 25 members residing in the three-storeyed house are still using Cauvery water, but Rajamurthi says rainwater has been purified enough to be used for drinking as well. The terrace area is 30 by 40 feet, which fulfils the description specified by BWSSB to come under mandatory rainwater systems.

BWSSB chairman P B Ramamurthy will visit Rajamurthi's house soon to see the model. On his part, Rajamurthi plans to start an NGO by employing plumbers who will be trained in making the system. Then he will fix it at other houses for Rs 100. "I have already fixed the system at four other houses and some houses at Bidadi and Ramanagaram,'' he said.